The officials who worked Super Bowl XXXI have earned well-deserved praise from supervisors and fellow officials. Their strong performance was the product of hard work and study at their pregame meeting.
Referee was allowed to join the crew at that meeting, the first time anyone other than officials and league personnel has been present.
We’re extending the invitation to you: Step into the room, pull up a chair, and join the crew on:
SUPER BOWL SATURDAY
In New Orleans, breakfast isn’t breakfast without strong Cajun coffee and beignets (bin-YAYS), the square, powdered-sugar-covered doughnuts that are synonymous with the region.
It’s Saturday, Jan. 25. Eleven men gather in a fifth-floor meeting room at the New Orleans Marriott. In 33 hours, seven of them will be on the Louisiana Superdome field to officiate Super Bowl XXXI.
Two others will be on the sidelines as alternates. The other two will observe the officials’ work.
If the prospect of working the biggest game of the year is making anyone nervous, it’s not obvious from the mood in the room. The conversation is light and cheery, carried by two predominant accents. Referee Gerald Austin and head linesman Earnie Frantz speak with thick Dixie drawls. NFL supervisors Jack Reader and Al Hynes have voices that give away their East Coast roots.
On Friday, the officials practiced the coin toss for 2 hours. It will be the only televised coin toss of the season, and the Fox network wants to make sure it is perfectly choreographed.
That task was the officials’ first game-related duty since their midweek arrival. This breakfast preceding their pregame l meeting is purely social. NFL director of officiating Jerry Seeman arrives and the real work begins.
Kickoff minus 32 hours
SATURDAY, 9 a.m.- Seeman greets the crew and takes his seat at the head of the three tables arranged in a U. Perhaps by happenstance, more likely for convenience, Austin sits directly to Seeman’s left.
The rest of the seating arrangement is random. As the day goes on, the downfield officials – side judge Tom Fincken, back judge Scott Steenson and field judge Phil Luckett – prove to be more reserved. The officials who work closer to the line of scrimmage – Austin, umpire Ron Botchan, line judge Jeff Bergman and Frantz – more gregarious.
“I didn’t notice that,” Luckett said with a chuckle when asked about the apparent reticence of the downfield officials. “It was just a coincidence, I guess.”
In a normal pregarne meeting, referee Ed Hochuli and umpire Neil Gereb are more talkative. As Super Bowl alternates, they assume a more deferential attitude than the others.
“You’re a terrific bunch of guys, on and off the field,” Seeman begins. “That’s why you’re here. You know the philosophy and the mechanics; we’re going to watch some video and talk about some things later on, when we get into the football element.”
First, it’s time to conduct some business.
Reader explains the procedure for purchasing a Super Bowl watch. “They’re only going to make a certain amount of these and then they’re destroying the mold,” Reader says. “So these are very exclusive.”
Seeman recites the schedule for Sunday. After brunch with their families, police will escort the officials so they arrive at the Superdome at approximately 1 p.m. “Once we get there, a lot of things are going to happen,” Seeman says.
Seeman reviews the pregame timetable. It is broken down in precise blocks of time. For instance, country singer Mary Chapin Carpenter is scheduled to begin her 3-minute performance at precisely 4:52:30; the kickoff is scheduled to occur at exactly 5:21.
“Accept my apologies for going over all this stuff,” Seeman says, “but we’ve got to have everytlung down in detail. That’s what this is all about, believe me.”
A few more wrinkles are ironed out and then it’s time to talk football.
Kickoff minus 31 hours
SATURDAY, 10 a.m. – Hynes mans the video projector as the crew settles in to watch plays from the final weeks of the regular season and the first three rounds of the playoffs.
Seeman and his staff spend between 3 and 4 hours on each game film, selecting unusual situations or examples of good and bad calls and mechanics. Seeman then narrates the master compilation, using a telestrator such as the one used by television commentators to illustrate his points.
The vast majority of Seeman’s comments are positive. He praises a crew for its alertness on a seemingly routine play. As the teams line up for a field goal attempt, it is apparent the New York Giants have 12 men on the field. The New Orleans holder takes the snap, stands up and throws a pass to a receiver who was barely noticeable on the sideline.
“So what do we have?” Seeman asks. ”We have 12 men on defense, which was recognized, and we have a ‘hideout,’ in this case properly picked up by this head linesman.” Seeman also notes the crew properly administered the 5-versus-15 administration (the defense’s 5-yard penalty is canceled and the offense’s 15-yard penalty is enforced).
Seeman includes Austin in the session, giving the referee an opportunity to tell his crew how he wants certain situations handled. On the screen, a defensive end moves into the neutral zone before the snap. A split second later, the offensive tackle reacts. “When we have a play like this … I want to look to each sideline and see Jeff and Earnie giving me a preliminary signal. Now, if we’re giving a different signal, then we want to come together and decide which one it is.”
“The umpire could have a flag on that too,” Frantz says. “If we come in and say, ‘I’ve got an NZI (neutral zone infraction),’ he might say, ‘No you don’t, because I’ve got a false start.”‘
Botchan then weighs in. “(If that happens), what I’ll say is, ‘I have a false start. What else happened?”‘
Kickoff minus 30 hours
SATURDAY, 11 a.m. – Passing is a major weapon in every NFL team’s arsenal. Green Bay quarterback Brett Favre and New England counterpart Drew Bledsoe throw at least 30 passes each in an average game. That is why a portion of the film featuring intentional grounding draws particular interest.
On the screen, a Jacksonville defender is about to sack the Atlanta quarterback. But before hitting the turf, the passer throws the ball toward the sideline. Seeman likes how the referee handled the play. “Take (the quarterback) down to the ground, get him to the ground, now look for the ball and there it is,” Seeman says, as the referee flags the intentional grounding.
When Austin says, “I don’t call intentional grounding,” there is a hush in the room. Is he serious? Is this dry Carolina wit? One can only guess.
Seeman reminds Bergman he should help Austin determine where the quarterback was when the ball was thrown. “I’ll get the spot where his progress was stopped before he was driven back,” Bergman says.
Seeman demands that crew members communicate with each other when necessary to get the proper call. He makes a point of noting such interaction when the film shows a Minnesota fumble roll into and out of the end zone.
Superdome: 6:49 remaining, first quarter.
The communication Seeman demands helps sort out the first penalty of the game, an illegal touching foul against
New England. Bledsoe’s attempted screen pass hits lineman Bob Kratch and falls incomplete. Frantz, Botchan and Luckett talk briefly before Frantz throws his flag.
“I wanted to make sure it hit him,” Frantz would say after the game. “You had another player wrapped up with him. If it hit the defensive player, it would be nothing. I wanted to ask Botchan, ‘Did
the ball hit number 61?’ He said he couldn’t tell. That’s when Phil Luckett came in and said he felt the ball hit him. Then I threw the flag.”
Meeting room
The next play also involves a pass. A Philadelphia defender intercepts a pass, is hit immediately and loses the ball when he hits the ground. Seeman praises the covering official for selling the call, blowing the play dead and discounting the fumble. Philadelphia was properly awarded possession.
Kickoff minus 27 hours
SATURDAY, 2 p.m. – A Milwaukee television reporter takes Seeman and Austin into the next room for interviews. Later, the reporter asks each man what he does for a living. Botchan, an educator, says, “Nuclear physicist.” But the grin on his face and the explosion of laughter from his crewmates give him away.
Film review resumes. Extra time is spent on a play that occurred in the Detroit-San Francisco game. A ballcarrier reaches the 3 yardline as a tackler makes contact and tries to drive the runner out of bow1ds. The runner strains for the goalline, hoping to break the plane for a touchdown.
“Remember what we’re looking for here: Feet, ball, plane,” Seeman says.
‘What we do inside the 5 yardline is, get to the goalline, see the ball and be sure you see it hit the plane,” Austin adds.
